* Urge, Buhari, CSOs, others to intervene over looming crisis in Abia
Hundreds of residents and supporters of the Labour Party (LP) in Abia State have staged a peaceful protest in Umuahia, calling on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately declare Alex Otti winner of the March 18 governorship election, noting that the seasoned banker scored the highest number of votes in last Saturday’s election in State.
Carrying placards with various inscriptions, the protesters gathered around the INEC office insisting that the results represent the wishes and aspirations of the entire people of Abia State.
They maintained that the Labour Party (LP) candidate is already leading with about 90,000 votes garnered in 16 local government results collated so far, therefore Obingwa Local Government Area – with less than 27,000 accredited voters as captured in INEC’s data – should not prevent INEC from declaring Oti as the winner.
The protesters added that there are no justifiable reasons for INEC’s continued delay of Otti’s declaration.
Meanwhile, the Umuahia branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), has urged INEC to declare Otti the winner of the poll to save the State from avoidable crisis.
Chairman of the branch, Barr Jasper Ejimofor, said the evidence emanating from INEC indicate that the Labour Party candidate has won the governorship election with a wider margin
He further called on President Muhammadu Buhari, the INEC Chairman, the national body of NBA, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), civil society groups, heads of security agencies and well-meaning Nigerians to intervene and prevent a scenario that could lead to a breach of the peace in the State.